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Avengers Origins #1-5
The Avengers: Mythos
Before Steve Rogers took to the front lines as Captain America. Before Bruce Banner began living a deadly double life as the Hulk. Before Ant-Man found a partner in crime-fighting in the Wasp. Before the Vision learned what it meant to be human. Before Luke Cage reclaimed the streets with an iron will and steel-hard skin. Before Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch escaped Magneto's clutches. Before Thor was worthy to heft the hammer Mjolnir...each of Earth's Mightiest Heroes walked a long and lonely road - risking everything to earn their place among the hallowed ranks of the Avengers!
COLLECTING: Mythos: Hulk , Captain America; Avengers Origins: Ant -Man & the Wasp, Luke Cage, Quicksilver &The Scarlet Witch, Vision, Thor
COLLECTING: Mythos: Hulk , Captain America; Avengers Origins: Ant -Man & the Wasp, Luke Cage, Quicksilver &The Scarlet Witch, Vision, Thor
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2012
5 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Paul Jenkins
1,258 books154 followersPaul Jenkins is a British comic book writer. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 15, 2015
Retcon - Adding or altering information regarding the back story of a fictional character or world, regardless of whether the change contradicts what was said before. (Definition from the Urban Dictionary)
When you have half a century of comic book continuity (or more), sometimes you need to update origin stories or story lines. When you have movies that gross a billion dollars, you need to simplify background for a new audience who were acquired from the legions of moviegoers. Example: In his original continuity, Tony Stark invented his Iron Man suit while prisoner of the Viet Cong. In order to align it with the film version, it now happened in Afghanistan.
Marvel isn’t as sloppy as DC, who will just re-boot continuity from square one (they’ve done it twice). Ask a comic geek to explain the origin of DC’s Hawkman. You’ll reduce them to a gibber-jabbering mess.
Take this volume as an example of how Marvel tries to tweak their super hero mythos or origin stories. In the original comic, Captain America was thawed out in the early Sixties. Here he talks about missing the Vietnam War and the Moon walks. Hello Chris Evans running through a modern Times Square!! Having read my cousins’ old hand-me-down comics, I’m not bothered by this. I get it. It’s a business move and it makes sense, it's all about fan acquisition, but I still can’t quite wash the original tales out of my mind.
Bottom Line: This is a decent volume for anyone just getting into comics or who have watched the films and would like some background on a few of the characters in the Avenger movies. The art is terrific and the stories about Ant Man, Luke Cage and Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch are especially good.
When you have half a century of comic book continuity (or more), sometimes you need to update origin stories or story lines. When you have movies that gross a billion dollars, you need to simplify background for a new audience who were acquired from the legions of moviegoers. Example: In his original continuity, Tony Stark invented his Iron Man suit while prisoner of the Viet Cong. In order to align it with the film version, it now happened in Afghanistan.
Marvel isn’t as sloppy as DC, who will just re-boot continuity from square one (they’ve done it twice). Ask a comic geek to explain the origin of DC’s Hawkman. You’ll reduce them to a gibber-jabbering mess.
Take this volume as an example of how Marvel tries to tweak their super hero mythos or origin stories. In the original comic, Captain America was thawed out in the early Sixties. Here he talks about missing the Vietnam War and the Moon walks. Hello Chris Evans running through a modern Times Square!! Having read my cousins’ old hand-me-down comics, I’m not bothered by this. I get it. It’s a business move and it makes sense, it's all about fan acquisition, but I still can’t quite wash the original tales out of my mind.
Bottom Line: This is a decent volume for anyone just getting into comics or who have watched the films and would like some background on a few of the characters in the Avenger movies. The art is terrific and the stories about Ant Man, Luke Cage and Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch are especially good.
March 18, 2013
I bought this for my boy, and he has been leaving it on the shelf in our living room, so I was just sitting there and thought I would take a look. Now I feel compelled to share.
Mythos: Captain America: Paolo Rivera's art is pretty, all muted tones and gentle brush strokes, but Paul Jenkins writing doesn't do anything for me, but that could be because I am a long time fan of Captain America. I love the old geezer, and I've read countless versions of his origin story, even seen a couple in moving pictures, and this one, with its focus on the "Golden Generation," along with plenty of saccharine humility on Cap's part was an inauspicious beginning to the sequence of origin stories. Oh well, I really picked up the book to read Vision's creation again (it's been years), so I'll keep plugging away when the feeling takes me.
Mythos: Hulk: Booooorrrrrrring. Why even bother with the retelling of this origin? Throwing in an iPad for Rick Jones and making him a maintenance man, making Bruce a pacifist, cutting Bruce funding, these things added nothing worthwhile to the classic story. The art was pretty, though, just like the Captain America retelling. I am hoping that at least one of these chapters has more worth than some pretty art.
I can't really be bothered to break these all down. The art is pretty throughout, but only one story benefited from the updated, classy treatment -- Luke Cage. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch & Ant Man and Wasp both suffered from packing too much emotional baggage into too short a space. Vision hit all the right plot points, but left me as cold as the android Avenger's emotions. And Thor was Thor: arrogant at first, less arrogant later on, bellicose at first less bellicose later on, thick at first, less thick later on. The best part of Thor was that we got to see Sif's hair shift from her mythologoical golden locks to her jet black Marvel locks, which was also the saddest part.
Great for someone who is new to the Avengers, but mostly annoying if one already knows these stories. It would have been better if the origins of Captain America, Hulk and Thor had been replaced by more peripheral Avengers. But my eight year old son enjoys it, so I suppose it works for the classic demographic if no one else.
Mythos: Captain America: Paolo Rivera's art is pretty, all muted tones and gentle brush strokes, but Paul Jenkins writing doesn't do anything for me, but that could be because I am a long time fan of Captain America. I love the old geezer, and I've read countless versions of his origin story, even seen a couple in moving pictures, and this one, with its focus on the "Golden Generation," along with plenty of saccharine humility on Cap's part was an inauspicious beginning to the sequence of origin stories. Oh well, I really picked up the book to read Vision's creation again (it's been years), so I'll keep plugging away when the feeling takes me.
Mythos: Hulk: Booooorrrrrrring. Why even bother with the retelling of this origin? Throwing in an iPad for Rick Jones and making him a maintenance man, making Bruce a pacifist, cutting Bruce funding, these things added nothing worthwhile to the classic story. The art was pretty, though, just like the Captain America retelling. I am hoping that at least one of these chapters has more worth than some pretty art.
I can't really be bothered to break these all down. The art is pretty throughout, but only one story benefited from the updated, classy treatment -- Luke Cage. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch & Ant Man and Wasp both suffered from packing too much emotional baggage into too short a space. Vision hit all the right plot points, but left me as cold as the android Avenger's emotions. And Thor was Thor: arrogant at first, less arrogant later on, bellicose at first less bellicose later on, thick at first, less thick later on. The best part of Thor was that we got to see Sif's hair shift from her mythologoical golden locks to her jet black Marvel locks, which was also the saddest part.
Great for someone who is new to the Avengers, but mostly annoying if one already knows these stories. It would have been better if the origins of Captain America, Hulk and Thor had been replaced by more peripheral Avengers. But my eight year old son enjoys it, so I suppose it works for the classic demographic if no one else.
November 8, 2017
Review to follow.
August 12, 2013
I've read a lot of 'Origin Stories' for most of the characters here already. So Cap, Ant-Man and Thor were all re-runs. The Hulk version was very minimalist, almost to the point of why bother?
The interesting stuff here were the Origins of Luke Cage, Vision, and Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver.
Otherwise wholly un-necessary; the artwork was more of the 'dreamy' type that seems more like a watercolour than actual art from a comic. However some reverted to the more regular styles.
So 2 stars, but the 3rd for the interesting origins. (maybe interesting because they were new to me, though I knew Vision and the twins' stories).
Non-essential.
The interesting stuff here were the Origins of Luke Cage, Vision, and Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver.
Otherwise wholly un-necessary; the artwork was more of the 'dreamy' type that seems more like a watercolour than actual art from a comic. However some reverted to the more regular styles.
So 2 stars, but the 3rd for the interesting origins. (maybe interesting because they were new to me, though I knew Vision and the twins' stories).
Non-essential.
June 9, 2013
A summarised retelling of the origin stories of Cap, Thor, Luke Cage, the Hulk, Ant-Man & the Wasp and Quick Silver & the Scarlet Witch. An ensemble of writers have contributed; so, as expected, the quality is a bit uneven. Luke Cage's story particularly stood out for me. Ant-Man was pretty awful. The rest is somewhere in between. Great art, though. Three out of five.
April 30, 2022
Yeah... Not that unique of a story. I see why Marvel reworked these characters and their origins. After reading Batman: Year One and reading about how DC entered the 80s and said "we need to rework our characters for modern times" Avengers: Mythos seems really dated even though it came out in 2012... I think the Marvel team at the time should have also reworked their characters' origins and amped up their costumes for the 2000s. Pretty much all of this is unrelatable. The writing isn't good either. It's so disconnected from the characters. The entire first chapter is Captain American throwing him self a sad boi pity party... So in this instance Movies> books.
Read
April 30, 2025League of Comic Geeks and CMRO website says that Captain America and Hulk Mythos book take place in an alternate comic universe.
Out of the characters featured in this book. I'm most familiar with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. And their issue is not totally accurate to what occurs in X-Men #4-7,11. Mainly when and where Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch decided to leave Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So I'm assuming the other stories aren't too accurate to established lore.
At this time I have read Thor's Issue. I would rate this book 5 stars, but since it's not really canon I'm not going to give this book a rating. I've enjoyed all the stories.
Out of the characters featured in this book. I'm most familiar with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. And their issue is not totally accurate to what occurs in X-Men #4-7,11. Mainly when and where Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch decided to leave Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So I'm assuming the other stories aren't too accurate to established lore.
At this time I have read Thor's Issue. I would rate this book 5 stars, but since it's not really canon I'm not going to give this book a rating. I've enjoyed all the stories.
December 12, 2016
Rewritten and newly updated origin stories of nine of the Avengers' core super-heroes. Very familiar ground for long time comic readers. Not much new is added. Of the various, I liked the tone and bittersweet nostalgia of the Captain America episode the best.
September 13, 2019
This comic was a condensed version of the origins of some of our favorite characters in the Marvel Universe.The designs were more modern,so they are very appealing to the contemporary readers,plus we get details that some of us might not have known.
Certainly worth a read.
Certainly worth a read.
March 2, 2021
This is a great collection and perfect for someone wanting to know the origin story of members of the avengers. It doesn’t have them all, but it does include: Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Scarlet Witch and QuickSilver, Luke Cage, Ant-man, and The Vision.
July 31, 2024
المجلد ده حلو قوي لأي حد مشافش الأفلام ولا قرأ أي حاجة عن أبطال مارفل قبل كده ، الحكاية الأصلية المختصرة لبعض شخصياتهم الأساسية والثانوية وخلاص علي كده
الرسم مكنش مبهر ولا القصص كانت مفصلة ، ده حاجة كأنها مختصر سريع لأي حد عايز يخش في الموود بتاع القصص بتاعتهم وخلاص علي كده
الرسم مكنش مبهر ولا القصص كانت مفصلة ، ده حاجة كأنها مختصر سريع لأي حد عايز يخش في الموود بتاع القصص بتاعتهم وخلاص علي كده
February 7, 2017
Simple versions of popular character origins, the stories are a mixed bag but the art is beautiful.
June 3, 2015
I suppose if you didn't know the origins of these characters, this might be an interesting read, but I know those stories and have read them over and over throughout the years. Paul Jenkins' Captain America story at least adds a nice twist with a childhood bully of Steve's who later joins the army, and by the end we see him as an old vet. It's a bit touching. However, his Hulk story gives us nothing new. Neither do the Ant-Man/Wasp or Vision stories. Luke Cage's origin is updated needlessly, and I wonder why the prison guard who torments Cage has had his name changed from "Rackham" to "Rachman." (I might have been 13 when I first read that story, but I remember it.) The Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch story rehashes portions of their origin, and would probably need to changed nowadays to eliminate references to Magneto and the X-Men. And the Thor story was more the origin of Mjolnir than that of Thor. I didn't care much for any of the art here (six different artists), although the Thor story and the Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver story had the best art, even though both were hampered by the coloring - too dark in Thor, and too bright in Q/SW.
March 15, 2016
This is a collection of the origin stories for a selection of heroes that have become Avengers retold with some changes here and there and a highly detailed art style. None of them were entirely unfamiliar to me, though having recently read early origin stories of the Vision and Luke Cage, the changes there were more glaring to me. I did appreciate the inclusion of some of the contemporary characters, though (like the Black Panther being present during the Vision's origin story). The Hulk's origin story is a lot less wordy than the others, but the art style particularly favored that story, and the energy and fury is palpable. If you are interested in reading where these characters came from, this is a good place to go, though the selection of characters is a bit random (being almost, but not quite, the characters from Avengers: Age of Ultron).
June 12, 2013
This is a collection of quite a few different takes on some classic Avengers' origins. A myriad of different writers and artists are involved but it makes for a disjointed collection. Overall, the book is decent as there are some high points, but there are some low points as well. The two standouts to me were the Ant-Man & Wasp Origins tale and the Vision story. Both chapters were so good because they involved takes on the characters/origins that were a new twist on what we've seen before. The painted chapters involving Cap and Hulk were very good as well. The others however were big letdowns. All were just rehashing what we've seen before. I liked the collections for the most part and would recommend it to Marvel zombies.
August 31, 2013
Eh, this was okay. Like all one-shot collections, it was a mixed bag. The Captain America story almost made me cry on the streetcar though. Hulk and Thor's issues were pretty dull and useless, and I would have preferred less famous Avengers in those spots. Liked Ant-Man and Wasp, but I have a weird weakness for those two, even knowing what happens down the road. I really liked the Vision and Luke Cage issues, since those two dudes don't get enough attention. Like the writing, the art was also a mixed bag. Summary: s'alright, but not worth a purchase, as I'd never re-read.
June 23, 2012
A lot of Avengers origins retold (with a few using painted art). I liked the two Paul Jenkins stories at the front that covered the Hulk and Captain America. The Cap story did a good job of reinforcing Cap's military origin and leanings, and the Hulk story was a nice update. But overall nothing too compelling, and some of the stories suffered from the "we must add something to the origin" problem.
March 8, 2016
Excellent book, with different artists drawing up the origin stories of these fellow Marvel characters. To be honest, I think all the Marvel movies we've watched: Ant-Man & The Wasp, Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch, Vision and Thor (and Luke Cage coming soon as a TV series) all copy from this book - because it is almost the same!
Definitely worth a quick read, and as its drawn by different artists the drawings will all differ.
Definitely worth a quick read, and as its drawn by different artists the drawings will all differ.
April 21, 2014
This was an interesting collection of stories from how certain Avengers got to where they are now. I was rather disappointed in the Wasp/Antman story as I remembered it quite differently but for the most part, this was pretty good. I enjoyed the artwork as well. Very vibrant and beautifully done.
June 24, 2012
In every case I preferred the original versions of the heroes' origins to the ones presented here.
June 30, 2012
Art was nice. Stories were ok.
January 7, 2013
I enjoyed this although the quality of the stories was uneven. Some of the art is great. Mostly they are solid retellings of the origin stories without much embellishment.
January 8, 2013
The writing was ok, but the art was very nice and I enjoyed reading short stories about some of the more minor characters.
May 1, 2013
Interesting take on the origin stories. Seems to be missing one about Iron Man, though.
August 26, 2013
The art work in this book was great. I knew most of the Mythos stories included in this, but it's still enjoyable to revisit.
September 9, 2016
Good volume for catching up on mythology for the Marvel comic movies.
May 6, 2014
I really love the artwork and I was struck, as always, by how tragically beautiful the Marvel origins stories can be.
April 6, 2015
The two "big" stories are enjoyable... but the other stories are weak. A mixed bag.
May 14, 2015
Good, strong art work.
A sweet vision of the Avengers member's beginnings.
All were fun reads.
I really enjoyed the Hulk story. [odd for me]
Also the Ant-Man/ Wasp story.
Check them out.
A sweet vision of the Avengers member's beginnings.
All were fun reads.
I really enjoyed the Hulk story. [odd for me]
Also the Ant-Man/ Wasp story.
Check them out.
June 18, 2016
I just started reading comic books so this was useful because it gave a summary on origin stories for some avenger characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews